A coalition of 24 members of Congress, led by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., urged the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc an August decision that upheld the FCC’s data breach notification rules, despite a Congressional Review Act action in 2017 that overturned similar requirements in other privacy rules (see 2508140052). Right-leaning interest groups also asked for rehearing, as sought by ISPs (see 2509290066). Briefs were filed Monday in case 24-3133.
Providers of incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS) insisted Tuesday at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the court shouldn’t even be hearing the case challenging a 2024 FCC order -- the 5th Circuit should. Oral argument in the case came the same day that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr circulated a draft order and Further NPRM that would make sweeping changes to IPCS rules approved last year.
A tug-of-war is continuing in the Senate over language from the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2296) that Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last month would give the DOD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman excessive authority to veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2509100064). The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the spectrum language in Section 1564, but Cruz filed an amendment in September to remove the proposal. He's also negotiating to remove it as part of a manager's amendment (see 2509110073). The House-passed FY26 NDAA (HR-3838) doesn't include similar language.
Petitioners Maurine and Matthew Molak asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court on Friday to dismiss their challenge to an FCC decision that let schools use E-rate support for Wi-Fi on school buses (case 23-60641), since the agency voted to end the program. The 5th Circuit earlier agreed to hold the challenge in abeyance, with further FCC action expected. Last week, over dissents from Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez, the FCC’s Republican majority eliminated two Biden-era programs designed to make broadband connections more readily available to students and their families (see 2509300051).
NBC's Saturday Night Live roasted FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on its latest episode, with cast member Mikey Day portraying the commission head. The sketch showed President Donald Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, summoning Day's Carr, who danced on screen to the 1983 pop song "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell. When Day's Carr corrected the president that his first name is Brendan, not Brandon, Johnson's Trump replied that "it's crazy you think I care." Johnson's Trump also admonished Day's Carr for hugging him: "You gotta stop."
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is proving to be “a very consequential chairman,” New Street’s Blair Levin said in a new webcast with former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, part of a series for the Free State Foundation. Levin also said he doesn’t view President Donald Trump as a true advocate of free markets.
The FCC's October agenda will see commissioners tackling issues ranging from an NPRM on accelerating the ATSC 3.0 transition to loopholes in its covered equipment list, Chairman Brendan Carr wrote Monday. The agenda is particularly space-centric, he noted, saying in a speech Monday that the FCC remains "riddled with backwards-looking regulations" regarding space. Carr's blog also said the commission plans to vote at the Oct. 28 meeting on revisions to incarcerated people’s communications services rules, as expected (see 2510030047).
The FCC’s decision to shut down immediately after federal appropriations lapsed -- rather than continue operations, as it did during past shutdowns -- has created uncertainty for broadcasters, wrote Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorneys David Oxenford, David O’Connor and Keenan Adamchak in a blog post Friday. “In recent years, there was at least some time for broadcasters and others regulated by the FCC to get ready for the shutdown and get further guidance as to what would happen with respect to particular filing deadlines.” That isn’t so this time, the attorneys wrote. Although the agency has issued public notices on extending some deadlines, it's unclear how broadcasters should handle equal employment opportunity audit responses or major change applications, the blog post said. The FCC’s License Management System is offline during the shutdown, which means broadcasters also won’t be able to meet quarterly issues/programs list filing deadlines. “But will the FCC’s systems be able to handle a crush of filings due the first business day after the day that the government reopens?” the attorneys asked. “These are all questions that broadcasters should consider with their counsel.”
An FCC NPRM looking at ways to speed up wireless deployments saw few changes from the draft version, while a wireline notice of inquiry had no notable changes. Both were approved by commissioners 3-0 on Tuesday (see 2509300063).
Consumers’ Research and its allies renewed their attack on the legality of the USF contribution factor, filing a petition with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week challenging it for Q4. Last month, the group withdrew an earlier challenge at the 5th Circuit, but industry observers predicted at the time that it would file a new one (see 2509170072). In August, Consumers’ Research asked the FCC to zero out the factor for Q4 (see 2506130016).